


kent parson centric bullet point fic

by intimatopia



Series: tumblr/discord smolfics [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Genderqueer Character, Hurt/Comfort, I've always wanted to use that tag, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Multi, Omega/Omega, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Touch-Starved, Trans Character, Werewolves, my dreams are coming true
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 04:08:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14686149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intimatopia/pseuds/intimatopia
Summary: kent centric bullet point fic. always parsepositive, occasionally unkind to jack. formatting? i don't know her sorry





	1. Chapter 1

  * Kent. and Kent is at Samwell to study, not to earn his ex's ex's approval, so he shrugs it off and tries not to show how much it gets to him. and he tells himself he doesn't want Bitty to like him, but that's a lie, so one night when Bitty is stressed as fuck and freaking out, Kent bakes bitty a cake. he knows pies are not his thing, and he has a foolproof recipe from his mom, and they came turns out–pretty good? Kent finds vanilla ice cream in the fridge and hands bitty a plate of hot cake and cold ice cream and bitty is momentarily so stunned that someone took the trouble to bake something just for him that he can't speak. he just stares at it, for so long that Kent feels hurt. Kent leaves the bowl on the table and walks away before bitty finds his voice
  * but Kent comes to the conclusion that he likes cooking, and so he spends time in the kitchen figuring out increasingly complex recipes. sometimes his time in the kitchen overlaps with Bitty's, and it's weirdly simple to work out a rhythm so they don't get in each others' way. Kent doesn't play hockey but he's friends with Dex, who's in his Intro to Colonialist History class (which Dex is taking at Nursey's suggestion) and Kent keeps showing up for help with his comp sci homework. and Bitty is in his last year at this point (Jack never came out; they broke up in y3) so he's more stressed than ever trying to figure out what he wants to do afterwards. and he still bakes, but not as much, and very rarely for Kent–bitty hates Kent. it's a massive, irrational hatred, and it's not helping his case with Whiskey but he sticks to it through every good thing Kent does for him, like cook and bake and help him deal with Captaining the team through his last year at college.
  * did I mention that Kent and Whiskey are friends? best friends, even. they share the same dorky sense of humour and Whiskey introduces Kent to Star Trek and Minecraft and Kent gets Whiskey into instagram. (I kinda want to write Kent/Whiskey, @ me in rarepairs if you're interested)
  * but Kent is falling in love with Bitty, quite against his will. he doesn't want to get lost in Bitty's sharp, cool brown eyes, or stare for too long at Bitty's arms and hands, or get hooked on Bitty's ass in those jeans, or the way they stretch over his thighs
  * Kent goes to a gay bar, with vague ideas of dancing his feelings away. he's three drinks in when he spots bitty on the dance floor, and Kent doesn't want to go over to him, but god it's like there's a magnet in his chest and bitty moves like he's out to wreck every gay and bisexual guy in the club, and fuck if it isn't working on Kent.
  * Kent gets caught up in dancing. it feels good, and for a few minutes he almost forgets about bitty. but then bitty is dancing right up against him, and he can't resist that at all. because Bitty is hot and sharp and and poison sweet and he hates Kent, and Kent has had enough to drink that he thinks he'll take this, because this is as close as he's ever getting (closer than he deserves to be) and Kent will take it.
  * he ends up blowing bitty in the men's room, hands shaking. Bitty's eyes are bright like he's been drinking too much, and he pulls Kent's hair, and Kent wishes desperately that he had the self-preservation necessary to walk away from this. instead he staggers back home with bruised knees and hickeys on his neck, knowing what it's like to kiss Bitty and wondering how he'll meet Bitty's eyes tomorrow.
  * fate takes that decision out of his hands, because Bitty avoids him the next day like he's got the plague. and the next day, and the day after that, until it's a week. Kent hurts and he misses bitty even though he knows he shouldn't, should never have fallen for him in the first place, shouldn't have danced with him or blown him. so he keeps himself away from Bitty, doesn't try to initiate contact (but he can admit, just to himself, that he doesn't text bitty because he can't take being ghosted by Bitty too, because he's tired of being the only one in love, always the person getting hurt).
  * bitty is–stressed. his midterms are coming up and he has papers to write and people to bake for and no Kent helping him with the team, no Kent around the kitchen giving him silent company. Bitty recalls that night in vivid detail, and he can't shake the feeling that he's taken advantage of Kent, somehow. he doesn't have the time, energy, or inclination to seek out and clear things up with Kent, so he tells himself he can deal just fine without Kent's help, ignores the way Whiskey is glaring at him, and moves the fuck on with his life
  * the state of affairs stays mostly the same for almost a month.
  * …
  * Jack comes back to Samwell less these days–he's dating Tater now, and every time bitty sees him he seems stabler, less incandescently happy and more...content, like he's sure of the ground he's standing on. Bitty envies him the feeling more than anything else–most days Bitty feels like he's drowning in everything he has to do, in hockey and the people who want him to bake, and his papers and tests. Bitty runs on sugar, caffeine, and adrenaline these days. he's tired and snappy, and half the Haus is shit scared of him these days (the other half stays the hell out of his way)
  * Tater and Jack–pull him back to to himself, somewhat. Bitty isn't sure how bf Jack ended up in his room, listening to to bitty talk/vent/ramble hysterically, but it feels good. (he and Jack never talked like this while they were dating.)
  * Bitty circles back to Kent for the sixth time (this time it's about how Kent makes a mean biryani, and somehow it's become Bitty's comfort food and bitty wants biryani, specifically Kent's biryani) and, well, jack's starting to get worried. Bitty talks about Kent a lot for someone that supposedly hates Kent, and as far as Jack can tell Kent's behaviour with bitty is typical of how he behaves with his friends (although, he behaved that way with Jack and look where that ended up)
  * Tater suggests that Jack talk to Kent, later when Jack brings it up to him. honestly, that hadn't occurred to Jack, but he sees no reason not to talk to him.
  * luckily, Kent and Connor are both in the kitchen. it looks like Connor is teaching Kent to make...scones? as far as Jack can tell anyway. Jack likes Whiskey, and he hasn't felt anything for Kent in a long time. Kent and Whiskey take a couple minutes to notice him–they're bent over the dough, poking dubiously at it, and when Whiskey sees Jack his eyes dart to Kenny and he goes bright red. Kent smiles at him.
  * "Hey," he says.
  * "Hey," Jack says. "can I talk to you? in private?
  * "you can use my room," whiskey says quickly.
  * "thanks, bro," Kent says, already moving. judging by the look whiskey gives him behind his back, whiskey feelings towards Kent aren't the least bit brotherly, but Jack doesn't know shit about interpersonal relationships and he'd like to keep out of this one, thanks. he already feels uncomfortably involved. it's a rare day when you find yourself trying to get your ex together with your other ex.
  * who, last you checked, hated ex#1's guts. what even is Jack's life.
  * Jack opens strong. "I think bitty likes you."
  * Kent flinches, and the look on his face–god, Jack knows that look. Kent looked like that when Jack told him You always say that, and he looks like that now. like he's been punched somewhere tender and unhealed.
  * "Don't," Kent whispers. "Please. I'm trying to get over him–do you have any idea how hard that is? just. let it go, Jack."
  * "I mean it," Jack says. "one of you has to see sense, and I don't think it's going to be Eric. but I think he likes you, Kent, or at least he could like you–"
  * "He hates me!" Kent yells. "he hates me, Zimms, and I've been trying to hate him back for months and I can't, I can't–"
  * Jack sees, suddenly, how this looks to Kent. how it must feel like everyone he ever falls in love with, ends up hating his guts. and Jack did that, too.
  * he hugs Kent on impulse, lets Kent cry brokenly into his shoulder. Kent always cries quietly–once, he told Jack that he's always lived in places with thin walls and he hates to worry people–and that hasn't changed over the years.
  * "I'll talk to Bittle," Jack promises softly. it's the least he can do.
  * Jack talks to bitty. at least–he tries. Bitty does not want to hear it. but Jack talks bitty into not cutting Kent off like that; Kent is terrified off being cut off; it hurts him worse than almost anything else. and Bitty acknowledges, however reluctantly, that Kent does not deserve the way Bitty hates him, or the way Bitty has been treating him lately.
  * Jack goes back to Providence worrying about them, but mostly satisfied with himself and the way he's left things.
  * …
  * Kent notes the change in Bitty's behaviour, but he's not getting his hopes up again (no matter what Jack said). but it's easy to slip back into his patterns of doing things to help bitty, to make his life easier. and bitty likes it, god help him, he likes that Kenny likes him. and he likes Kent, god. he likes Kent's stupid eyes and his unruly soft hair (Bitty wants to put his hands in it all the time, wtf) and Kent's relentless goodness.
  * but there's only so long that Kent can keep it up. he tells Bitty that he's in love with him quietly and without drama, one night when they're studying together in the kitchen (Kent takes college seriously). Kent's voice is soft and and bleak and he's picking up his books and stacking them as he tells Bitty that Kent's been in love with him for months, and Bitty doesn't love Kent back or even like him, but that's alright, Kent just needs Bitty to know.
  * bitty freezes again. he hates himself for that, but Kent won't stop taking him by surprise and Bitty needs time to figure it out. by the time Bitty unfreezes, Kent is gone and the Haus is silent. bitty picks up his textbooks and goes back to his room.
  * he texts Lardo about it, because she's his friend and unbiased he needs a second opinion he trusts. once he's done explaining the situation to Lardo, she tells him do what feels right to you, but be kind. he stares at his phone for five minutes, plugs it in to charge, and falls asleep.
  * the next day, bitty doesn't see Kent. but he sees Kent the day after that. Kent is going into the library, so bitty follows him in (feeling only a little guilty). it takes him a few minutes to track Kent down among the shelves.
  * "can I talk to you?" bitty asks breathlessly. he's been running, and Kent looks terribly sweet in his dorky blue button-down shirt and dark jeans.
  * Kent pulls his satchel (what a nerd, bitty thinks affectionately) closer to his chest. "about what?" his voice is shaky, but bitty ignores it.
  * "about what you said. yesterday. to me. before you slept." Bitty wants to bite his tongue–of course Kent knows what he means.
  * "here?" Kent says. his eyes are a stunning clear jade today and bitty is finding all of this a bit much. Kent has no right looking so pretty while bitty is trying to date him, what the hell.
  * "at Annie's? it'll be pretty empty at this time."
  * Annie's is empty, as it turns out. Kent picks a booth in a corner, where they're almost hidden from the door and he can see people coming towards them.
  * KP: okay, talk
  * EB: did you mean what you said yesterday
  * KP: no. I thought it would be a funny midnight prank. yes, I meant it. bitty, what are you getting at?
  * EB: I like you.
  * KP:
  * EB: I mean. I don't love you. but I like you. and I would like to date you. and possibly fall in love with you, later on. (some part of bitty knows that later is now)
  * KP: this isn't funny
  * EB: I know. I'm not joking. I like you, Kent. and I haven't been very good to you, and I'm sorry. but you're a wonderful person, and I want to be with you. if you want to.
  * Kent is shaking slightly. "I'd like that," he whispers, "I'd like that a lot."
  * Eric grins so hard his face hurts. "I'd let this be our first date, honey, but I want to ask you out properly. and I have class in ten minutes."
  * Kent is smiling too, wide and beautiful. "I'm free Friday," he says tentatively. "that okay?"
  * "that's lovely, sweetheart."
  * they walk out together. Bitty slings an and over Kent's shoulders, pulling him down to press his lips to Kent's jaw. he knows Kent swallows, feels it against his mouth.
  * "I'll text you," bitty murmurs, pulling away, and treasures the squeak Kent lets out in response.




	2. Chapter 2

  * Kent is so cut up and hurt after Jack because everyone in his new team just. dislikes him (they're not the aces cause I luv the aces sorry) and he feels so out of place and alone
  * I know! Kent goes to the Bruins first, but they don't need him and he isn't getting as much ice time as he deserves, and eventually they trade him to the some expansion team with a really shitty coach
  * and it's so bad. it's like the coach hates Kent. hates him for breathing in his rink or something. and Kent is 18, he just got traded halfway through the season for no discernable reason and he's desperate to fit in and be liked on his new team
  * the guys are nice to him, but it's clear that they don't think he belongs and he's working himself to the bone trying to please his coach, trying to make friends, trying to do everything and he's so so exhausted
  * Coach Walten isn't any happier with Kent though, not even when they make the playoffs that year for the first time. and Kent is trying so hard, but it isn't good enough, and when Coach Walten tells him to stay behind that summer for "extra practice", he agrees
  * he doesn't expect it to be as bad as it is. apparently having the rest of the team around acted like some kind of buffer–without them Walten is always looking at Kent, always finding fault with him, always finding something new and innocuous about him to tear apart. he starts having panic attacks every morning before "practice", and the rink has become something terrifying and nightmarish instead of comforting
  * by the time the next season rolls around, Kent's body hurts all the time, he's living inside an anxiety attack, and when the guys filter into the locker room and chirp him for spending the summer in * * * he manages a tight smile and throws up in a stall right after
  * tbh Kenny probably never figures out that he's being abused by his coach? because he doesn't even think it's possible that it could happen and that it happened to him is just. unthinkable
  * he's just. going to keep going. until he breaks down. because he doesn't know better
  * and break down he does. the off season is not meant to be played through, and Kent's body is making its complaints known. when he breaks his leg, and clean snap that will have him out for a season and a half but not for ever, he's so relieved he feels guilty. hockey is supposed to be the love of his life. it shouldn't be this, this horrible hurting thing that tears him apart



but he recovers. he goes to physical therapy, and he goes to the team therapist who suggests that he get real therapy, and he gets better. it takes him months to realise that the way Walten treated him was wrong, and months more to admit all the ways it fucked him up, but he gets there. slowly.  
then he gets traded again. this time to the aces, a team that's desperate enough to spend on a guy they aren't sure will give them what they need. and finally, it feels like Kent's coming home.  


  * their Captain, Jeffrey Troy, invites Kent to stay at his place until he finds his own apartment. the coaches aren't out to get him. the team actually likes him. he first month, he wakes up with nightmares of being back in * * *. he wakes up to Jeff sitting on his bed and holding a glass of water, and he falls back asleep to the sound of Jeff telling him about his pets.



when Kent moves out, the first thing he does is get himself a kitten from a local shelter. she's tiny and blind and Kent loves her to death. Jeff helps him throw a party in honour of his new kitten, Kit Purrson, and he and Jeff spend the night hanging out in the guest bedroom, taking pictures of kit sitting in boxes and tickling her so she can swipe at their hands.  
Jeffrey is adorably clueless about the internet, but he makes an Instagram so he can follow @officialkitpurrson, and a twitter so he can tweet about following @officialkitpurrson

it takes them another couple years to figure their shit out. Jeff wants to retire, wants to take care of his half-sister's kid, and Kent will probably become the Captain.   
Kent wants desperately for Jeff's last season to be amazing. they've won a Stanley Cup once, but Kent wants to do it again, and he wants it to be for Jeff

  * and they _do_



afterwards, while the team celebrates, Kent finds Jeff walking around the [whatever the rink building is called please I don't know]. Kent has a butler of champagne, and he and Jeff sit with their backs to the wall and share it until it's almost empty, into Kent turns to face Jeff.  
"Jeff," he whispers. he's most of the way to drunk already, and his voice is thick like he's about to cry. "Jeff. you kinda saved me, y'know?"  


  * "anybody would have," Jeff says.
  * "no. no, they wouldn't, and I know, okay? I was there. when people weren't." Kent took a deep breath, and then another three. "what I'm saying is. no one is as good as you. you make this team so good, Jeff. and if I can be half the Captain you are–I'll be a great one, Jeff."
  * Jeff swallowed, and Kent stared. he always stared at Jeff. he always looked so good. it wasn't fair. right now, in the dim light and sheltered from the roar of victory, Jeff looked holy.
  * "you're a good person, Kenny," Jeff said. "you see the best in people." he shook his head.
  * "you saw the best in me," Kent said softly. "when I felt like there was nothing about me worth seeing or knowing. you made me feel real, Jeff. you made me think I was good. will you just. take a fucking compliment?"



Jeff kisses him. it isn't sudden, Kent sees it coming and he has the time to pull away. he doesn't. Jeff's lips are firm and warm and they taste like champagne, and Kent breathes it in, twists his fingers in Jeff's shirt and holds on while Jeff kisses the daylights out of him.  
it's impossible to tell how long they kiss for, when Jeff goes from kissing and biting at Kent's jaw to his neck and then lower, Kent squirming because Jeff's beard hasn't been shaved off yet and it burns, to pulling Kent into his lap and keeping him close with a hand on the back of his neck, thumbing at his pulse.   


  * that they get home in one piece is a miracle, and that night Kent sleeps in Jeff's bed, Jeff sprawled on top of him like dead weight.
  * Kent looks at Jeff's beard for the first time and he has to go lock himself in the bathroom because he's Gay Fuck
  * Kent can't grow a beard so he grows out his hair
  * I mean, right now Kent has hair that comes below his shoulders and Swoops has a beard
  * what I'm saying is they have great sex
  * Jeff raises his sister's kid, Kent cries because he's always wanted a kid, they date and raise lil Adam Troy-Parson together while Kent is, impossibly, an even better Captain then Jeff, and Jeff is his proud Supportive trophy husband




	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what is,,,,,,,,, formatting,,,, don't know her,,

  * Kent's dad, Vincent, is gay. he's known he was gay since college, but in college he also met Mariah, who was his lab partner in chemistry, who was his friend. he never told her he was gay (she wasn't homophobic - but Vincent tended to think of homophobia as beating up gay people, not as the everyday awfulness it sometimes was) and she didn't ask. she did tell him to propose to her, a week before they graduated. she told him exactly how to propose, and Vince thought this was as good as it could possibly get. knew he'd never come out to his family, knew he didn't have a chance with his friends (all his friends, who were also Mariah's friends), and he didn't what she wanted and they got married. and for a month things were good.
  * Mariah told him she was pregnant one night over dinner. they'd had sex exactly once, on their wedding night, and afterwards while Mariah slept Vince has crept to the bathroom and spent two hours hyperventilating and crying. he'd never had sex before and at this rate, he thought, he didn't want to. but Mariah was pregnant, and that made Vince happy, in a way he hadn't felt for years
  * Vince loves the kid. he doesn't have a name for the kid, but he loves them. and he's more excited about the baby than he's ever been before about anything.  
that's when the fights start. at first they're about how late Vince gets back from work, then they're about how he doesn't pay enough attention to her (he tries) and it keeps escalating, things she says that hurt, things that feel true even if he knows, objectively, that they aren't. but there's no use arguing with her, and he needs to be around the baby, so he accepts what she says and tries not to let it get to him. but sometimes the things she says hit far too close.  
he tells himself she's pregnant. he tells himself it's only another 7 months. he tells himself the baby needs him. most days, it works
  * but it doesn't get better after Kent is born. Vince helps around the house as much as he can–he doesn't like it when Mariah picks at his flaws, and some days he thinks he's nothing but flaws. it's tearing him down and he can't let it show, not in front of her their friends, who laugh when Mariah tells them all what a crap husband he is, what a crap person. and he kind of is, isn't he? he's a gay guy who married and had a kid with a woman, for fuck's sake. he can't give her anything she wants, and she's right about it being his fault.   
he takes it for years. but then she starts picking at Kent as well, and Kent is three years old, goddammit. he doesn't need to be told he's a noisy, annoying kid all the time, and he's already pulling into himself, and Vince loses it, picks up his kid and packs their bags, moves as far away as he can go
  * Montreal is new and strange. he has a bit of a time finding a job that can accommodate him having a kid and needing to take care of him too. in the end, he finds a job as the PR guy for a hockey team. he's basically the entire department (well, there's a middle aged guy who looks clueless all the time, and the coffee lady).   
there's not a lot that can prepare him for how hot the guys on the team are, though.   
Bob is...not good with reporters. he always ends up swearing or shouting, but they all still want to interview him because he's the star player for the Montreal Canadiens. so Vince makes him a script and coaches him through it and ignores the way Bob is looking at him, sharp and too close. he knows Bob is married, and he had next to no experience with gay sex. it cannot possibly be like that.
  * Bob invites him home for dinner, though, and tells him to bring his kid along. Vince is just surprised Bob remembers that he has a kid.   
turns out Bob also has a kid, though. a bossy black haired boy, already skating around on the frozen pool in their backyard. he stares at Kent for five minutes (Kent tries to hide behind Vince) and then he asks Kent if he knows to skate. Kent doesn't know how to skate but he wants to learn, so Vince, Bob, their kids and Bob's wife Alicia all troop out to the pool, where Bob laces up his skates so he can supervise the kids.   
Vince sits down with Alicia on a nearby log, which seems to have been dragged into a position that affords them a clear view of the lake. Alicia has two bottles of hot chocolate, and she and Vince share one while Kent learns to skate, Bob's loud laughter and shouting mixing with the Kent's high screams and jack's "not like that, stupid, like this"  
Vince relaxes that night, for the first time in years. he doesn't realise how tight he's been holding himself until he lets go enough to join in with Alicia's encouraging shouts, laughing with her about MAD magazine issues they've both read. she doesn't ask about Kent's mom and Vince doesn't ask what the fuck he's doing here.   
instead he drinks Alicia's amazing hot chocolate and stares at the moon and listens to Kent being happy until it starts to snow
  * it is like that, Alicia tells him as they walk back home. Bob is racing ahead with Kent and Jack. they'd like to keep him, if he wants that. she tells him they've talked about it, about having another person, and they both like him. you barely know me, Vince says numbly. we know enough to know we like you, Alicia says. and then, it's okay if you aren't ready yet. we'll wait for you. and Vince is glad he doesn't have to make that decision yet. he doesn't think he's ready, doesn't know if he'll have a chance like this ever again but god he's tired and he just got away from Mariah 3 months ago and he doesn't know. but maybe, just maybe, it'll be fine
  * and it is fine. it's good, even. Bob is not any easier at work, still a foul-mouthed, fighty dick on the ice, but god things are getting better. he goes to Bob's after work most days, helps Alicia in the kitchen, listens to Kent talk about hockey practice and skating and Jack, the kid never stops talking about Jack. it takes months for the hurt to fade, and even so it doesn't go, but he's healing.   
he moves in with them a year later. Kent loves Bob and Alicia as much as Vince loves Jack, and Vince loves Jack a lot. Jack is smart and enthusiastic and so, so dedicated to hockey, but he comes to Vince every night so Vince can tell him about American History. last month it was the Romans, and next month Vince is thinking about bringing up the British Empire, and he loves watching Vince take photos, pesters him afterwards about how cameras work (well, you see there's this lens here–), can he take a photo too (yes), why does Vince take photos (he likes the idea of a perfect moment standing still forever he wants to make an album), and so on and so forth
  * Vince kisses Bob one night, after dinner. Alicia is upstairs putting the kids to bed, and Bob is there, smiling at him the way he almost never does, and Vince feels too weak to fight it anymore. he leans in and Bob meets him halfway, lips warm, hands coming up to cradle Vince's neck and jaw and sliding fingers into his hair (Vince gasps).  
"come upstairs," Bob says roughly. he's taller then Vince and heavier, and Vince feels safe and held with Bob pinning him to the counter.   
"Alicia," Vince starts. Bob shakes his head.   
"she won't mind," he promises.  
Vince shakes his head. "not today," he says softly. but he tilts his head up for another kiss.  
they're still making out when Alicia comes down again. "carry on," she smiles, when they manage to pull apart and notice her. "I'll just take your room, shall I, Vince–"   
"no," Vince says quickly. "not, not today."  
Alicia blinks. "alright," she says uncertainly. "I'm upstairs, then. tell me when you're done."  
kissing Bob is amazing, feels like burning up and drowning at the same time, but Vince pulls away. "we'll continue this," he tells Bob hurriedly, and rushes to the stairs after Alicia.
  * "I don't want you to think I'm taking him away from you," Vince says. they're on the roof, and the air is ridiculously cold. he shivers and wonders if he'll ever really get used to Montreal.  
"you're not," Alicia says. she's smiling. "I'm glad you two finally got it together."  
"aren't you worried–" Vince begins. then he stops.  
"sit down," Alicia says. "I'm not worried. I meant it when I said we want you. that hasn't changed."  
"I'm gay," Vince says. it's the first time he's said it, and his mouth is still tingling from the way Bob kissed him. "I mean. I thought I was gay, and I don't think it's changed. but I think. I think I want you too." he pauses, breathing. "both of you."  
"it's okay if you don't want me," Alicia says carefully. they're on the edge of something big and wonderful, and she doesn't want to ruin it. "there's more than one way to–to want someone. we can make our own way."  
he reaches for her hand. "I think," he says, reaching for her hand, "I want you."  
when she turns around he's grinning, dorky and crooked like he's trying not to. his hair is a mess and he's leaning towards her slightly. she yanks him forward impatiently, almost smashing their mouths together. his lips are cool and chapped, and he kisses hesitantly, but there's something big and honey warm-sweet in Alicia's chest, like she wants to protect this man, forever, and hell if she's letting go now.
  * Vince goes to bed in his room (the converted guest room) still jittery and lowkey freaked out by what he just managed to do. he can't believe this didn't blow up in his face, and he can't stop grinning.  
when he walks into the kitchen the next morning, Alicia and Bob are kissing. he doesn't stumble (this isn't the first time he's walked in on them) but, well, it's different now.   
Alicia notices him first. "want to join?" she asks. he does, in fact, want to join, and trips on his way to them.  
they trade him between them to make out; minutes of Bob's thorough, hungry kisses, and then Alicia's slower, sharper kisses. he's red faced and dazed by the time Alicia pulls him away so they can get started on breakfast.
  * Vince wonders how to break the news to Kent, and eventually manages to work himself into a full blown snit over it. he doesn't know how Kent will react to him being gay, let alone being in a relationship with Bob and Alicia, who are married–  
"he's five," Alicia says. "he thinks girls have cooties. he doesn't even know what gay means."  
he doesn't expect Kent to blink slowly at Vince's fumbling explanation of wanting to kiss guys instead of girls, except Alicia, who Vince definitely wants to kiss. he certainly doesn't expect Kent to say, "oh. can I kiss boys too?"  
"if you ask," Vince says helplessly.   
"Jack–" Kent yells. "did you know we can kiss boys if we want to?"
  * Bob and Alicia laugh like hyenas  
Kent goes around for a day being utterly Shook that he can kiss boys so he tells everyone  
"uncle Bob, did you know you can kiss boys if you want to? and if you ask. dad told me! isn't that awesome?"
  * Bob: oh really? your dad never told me i can kiss boys  
Kent: only if you ask  
Bob: Vince, can I kiss you if I ask?
  * "aunt Alicia, did you know we can kiss boys? [realises that Alicia is a woman and can already kiss boys] [dawning realisation that lesbians] or girls! you can kiss girls. have you ever kissed a girl, aunt Alicia?"
  * also, Alicia: I'd like to kiss a girl  
Kent, eagerly, because he knows One (1) Thing: dad says you have to ask  
Alicia: who do I know that I can ask?  
Vince, in the background screaming silently
  * Jack and Kent get to be as queer and experimental as they want at home
  * and they're just. out there. sex educating their classmates because why tf not?



**extra/meta/notes**

  * also because Vince is around, Jack's anxiety never gets as bad as it did in canon because he literally always had Vince around to talk to
  * and Vince is always like my kiddo,,,,there's more to u than hockey,,
  * he encourages Jack to go to college after he gets drafted
  * Kent in grade school asking boys if he can kiss them because “my dad said I can if I ask”
  * also @Tony Baloney grade school Kent nearly gets beaten up, didn't want to say that but I felt guilty about not responding to you,




	4. Chapter 4

  * Kent Parson is a wolf. he was bitten very young, and he can't really remember a time when the moon didn't pull at the blood in his veins. he can't remember a time before the monthly turning.   
the transformation tears him apart, month by month. it feels like being torn apart and stitched back together in the most painful way possible.   
he knows, even as a child, to hide it. his mom left because of it, after all. left him with his dad, who tried to raise Kent well, but there's only so much you can do for a child who spends one night a month in anguish and terror.
  * part of it–well, most of the pain of the transformation is sheer loneliness. wolves are not made to be alone. they're built to seek security, to want a pack, and Kent has no pack. his dad locks him in basement during the full moon and Kent doesn't resent it, but he still spends the night scrabbling at the door, desperate for warmth and company.
  * Kent grows up, he plays hockey. but the loneliness crawls into his bones and never leaves. it's worse before and after the full moon, but he's always leaning into the people who touch him. always trying to get closer, like that will make it hurt any less.
  * but it doesn't. no one tells him that it's because he needs a pack, because packs with other wolves in them are safety and security and warmth. that he needs a pack.
  * the thing with Jack fucks him up. it's the closest he's even been to another person, and somewhere he can't shake the thought and he drove Jack away, that he was too clingy and needy. and then Jack stops taking his calls. Kent calls every day for two weeks, and has a panic attack every time no one picks up. when Alicia tells him to stop calling, Kent doesn't stop shaking for hours. it doesn't help that it's the full moon that night. Kent's learned to be quiet since he was a child, but that night he hurts so bad he gnaws his paws like he hasn't since he was 6 or 7 and missing his mom. Kent doesn't heal much faster than the average human, but it's fast enough that he can play hockey the next day, and that's what matters
  * Kent only just gets through his rookie year, and every year after is some strangling combination of better and worse. on one hand, the aces are winning, and winning, and winning. on the other hand, he's never been quite so lonely. more often than not he falls asleep curled as tight into himself as he can, like that will help.   
he picks kit up on the road one evening on his way to practice. she's small and shivering and she yells a lot. he takes her to the rink and dries her off and steals the bottle of hot milk Carly gets because they stopped making his favourite flavour of Gatorade. he has to look up the correct dilution and hunt around for a saucer, but once she's lapping at the milk, he feels the constant weight in his chest ease slightly
  * coach shouts at Kent for being late, and for the cat on the changing room, but he also gives Kent his vet's number
  * ///
  * Alexei has a pack. it's a good pack, even if it's full of Europeans. all in all, it could be worse. he could be in the NHL, with all the stress that entails, with no pack. he shudders to imagine what that would be like
  * and Alexei? loves his pack. there's Snowy, his glow in the dark Swede, Scraps, who plays for the Bruins but comes to Providence whenever he can, and Lusker and Plant, who've been together for as long as Tater can remember
  * Tater knows a couple other packs, but none on the West Coast. it's kinda sad, really. the KHL had a lot more packs. he misses the alliances.  
which is why it's a surprise, the first time he plays against Kent Parson. he's heard about Kent, of course–who hasn't? but Jack has been twitchy and closed off for a couple days, and that's slightly more pressing. Jack is not pack–not even close–but he is pack adjacent, and Tater worries instinctively about what's his.
  * Kent Parson reeks of loneliness. it's so bad it makes Alexei stumble a bit. but he can't hold onto that for long, because Kent plays well. hard and fast and with an edge of reckless desperation that Alexei recognises. his Babushka warned him about wolves without packs, wolves that went mad or sick and wasted away.   
when Alexei was younger, she'd warned him to never become like that. to keep his pack close, no matter what.
  * he tracks Kent down after the game. Kent is snappy and touchy, and at first Alexei thinks it's about the fight. why wouldn't Kent be happy to meet another wolf? wolves love meeting each other. but then he smells Kent, the awful mix of pain and terror and yearning, and.  
he pulls Kent close, gently and slowly so he has time to move away if he needs to. but Kent seems frozen in shock. Alexei hugs him for a solid five minutes, and for most of it Kent just stands there limply. it's only minutes later that Kent raises his hands to fist them in Alexei's shirt. "Come home," Alexei says softly, and when Kent pulls away they both pretend he isn't crying.
  * Alexei's apartment is big. not that big, but enough that his pack has room to stay over and cuddle and hang out. Kent looks awfully small standing in Alexei's entrance.   
"Is after game," Alexei says. "Should eat something, yes? I have pizza left."  
it turns out that there's a lot of leftover pizza. Kent follows Alexei to the kitchen closely, like he's being pulled along on a short string. they eat in silence, but Alexei stands close to him, shoulder to shoulder. Kent pushes closer without seeming to realise it.  
"I don't understand," Kent says, the second they're done eating.  
"I can explain–some things," Alexei says carefully. Kent is probably still skittish. "But first–when were you turned? bitten?"  
Kent pauses. "Young," he says finally. "I don't remember not turning."  
Alexei nods. that, in itself, isn't unusual. "But–your pack. What happened to them?"  
Kent stares at him like he's grown a second head. "What do you mean, pack? I don't have a pack. I've never had one."
  * "Never?" Alexei says. his heart hurts. he can't imagine growing up without his pack's warmth and love pulsing through him, every moment of his life. he can't imagine how much pain Kent must be in. he swallows past the lump in his throat, and says, "But. Wolves. You must know other wolves."  
"There was the one who bit me." Kent looks confused.   
Alexei is not a violent person (not off the ice, anyway) but he wants to track down and rip out the throat of the wolf that turned Kenny.   
"You need a pack," Tater says. "All wolves must have pack."
  * he sounds like he's laying down the law. and maybe it is the law. how would Kent know? until an hour back, he thought he was entirely alone. not that he feels much better now. the wolf that he buries in the back of his mind is howling to be let out. it wants to throw itself at Tater, to cling and never let go. Kent wraps his arms around himself, trying to force it back.
  * "I still don't understand," Kent says. "What the point is. Of a pack."  
Tater is looking at him with this horrible compassion. "You not understand. Pack is–warmth. Safeness. Family."  
"I have my dad," Kent snaps, but he feels like he's been slapped. Warmth, safety; all the things Kent has only ever heard about and dreamed of. it feels so cruel that Alexei is offering it to him now, long after he's given up on them.
  * "Not family here," Alexei gestures at Kent's neck. "Here." He touches Kent's chest, lightly, just the tips of his fingers against Kent's racing heart. Kent slumps forward, strings cut.  
this time, Alexei doesn't let him go. this time Alexei murmurs soothingly to Kent as he cries, big hands rubbing down Kent's back and sides. eventually Alexei moves them both to the couch, pulls Kent into his lap, lets Kent try to push closer than possible–like no one's ever touched him before. "I've got you," Alexei says over and over in Russian. they fall asleep like that.
  * in the morning, Kent watches Tater make calls to a couple of his friends in the Western Conference, asking them to find local packs willing to take in another wolf.
  * it's just–Kent still isn't sure about this whole thing. it's true that he feels better, lighter and cleaner but. last night he'd felt warm. safe and held and protected. he wants that again–he wants that forever–but not with. not with just anyone. he doesn't know anyone other that Tater he wants that with.  
"Can't I be part of your pack?" Kent asks when Alexei comes back. Tater shakes his head. "Too far," he says gently. "You need pack close."  
"You don't have pack close," Kent argues. "You seem to be managing just fine."  
Tater gives him a look that has way too much what an idiot and not enough fondness. even though there's definitely some fondness there. "I have pack in team," he says patiently.  
"What–who?" Kent demands, briefly side-tracked.   
"Snowy, on team," Tater says. "Lusker and Plant–they play in AHL. Scraps from Bruins."  
"Scraps? He's a wolf?"   
"Yes, why?"  
"I don't know if I should tell you this" Kent shrugs, like he doesn't care much either way. "He might get traded to us in a few weeks."
  * Tater stops. Scraps, traded. on one hand, it would probably be good for him to have Kent in his pack, as his Captain. and then he thinks Who am I kidding?  Scraps is pretty stable. the truth is he wants Kent in his pack and in his arms. and it'd be good for Kent to have pack on his team. to have even a tiny scrap (haha) of what he's been missing out on.
  * ///
  * management knows only if the wolves in question actually tell them. Kent's management knows he has a furry little problem and can't play on most full moons
  * some wolves (like scrappy and plant) can play even on full moons, they'll just be a little more aggressive than usual. plant comes from a family of born wolves but he himself is human. he's still affected by the moon and he needs a pack
  * Kent is out of commission on full moon nights
  * werewolf fans can only tell which players are wolves by deduction or if they get close enough to smell
  * packs shift in size and hierarchy ask the time. Alexei's pack, for example, is his family (his Babushka, his dad, and his two sisters) but he also has his NHL pack. these packs can shift into each other but the hierarchy will shift with it. Alexei is the Captain/alpha of his pack tho. there's no real word for it, but he's the one that calls the shots.
  * Kent's wolf form is small (slightly larger than a Cocker spaniel) and this mangy tan-white colour. during the off season, Tater washes and grooms out Kent's coat.
  * ///
  * Kent looks sorta pathetic in wolf form. Scraps is used to his Captain looking, if not cool, calm, or collected, at least reasonably hot in I'm-a-hot-mess-but-you-still-want-to-fuck-me kinda way
  * he's tiny, and he whines at scraps when he notices he's changed. it takes scraps a couple minutes to figure out that Kent wants him to come untangle him from his human clothes. it's adorable, in a slightly useless way
  * "It's not even evening yet," Scraps tells Kent, picking him up to cuddle him. "Why are you a wolf already."  
Kent whines again, paws batting at the air. Scraps' wolf, dozing restlessly this close to the moon, lifts her head. Cuddle him, she says. it's not words so much as impressions, that scraps translates every time he talks to her, but she knows what she's talking about. You want to come out? he asks. she does
  * once turned, Scraps walks to the sofa, where she'd put Kent. Kent looks puppyishly excited to see her, practically throwing himself off the couch onto her once she's close enough. she growls at him, watches him sprawl clumsily at her feet, tail tucked into his stomach, eyes big. he makes a squeaky yipping sound at her. she growls again, placing a massive paw against his chest and stomach.
  * Kent calms down at that, so she settles him between her front paws to groom him. he wriggles a bit. Stay still, she sends him. his mind is a whirl of sensation and instinct, barely human. it's no surprise, really, the way the he suppresses his wolf, that the wolf would take over entirely when it was let out.   
she gets to work, chewing out and licking down his fur. she chews on his ears for a few minutes, before moving down to his neck, the fur there tangled and knotty.
  * he's limp and sated under her by the time Tater and the rest of them show up. they'd decided to have their first pack night in Kent's house, hoping that it would make him feel safer. tater has keys, in any case, and Plant and Lusker are holding grocery bags and takeout boxes for two days. she grins at them.   
plant and Lusker find blankets and pillows to pile around, while Snowy puts away the bags. Alexei is talking to his grandmother, a monthly ritual.   
but they're all changed by the time the moon rises–all except Plant, of course. Kent is padding restlessly around the room, demanding cuddles and attention from everyone but not staying long enough to collect in full.   
she shares a glance with Tater, who's stretched out along one wall. he's even bigger than she is, and she used to think that want possible. Russians. Restless, he murmurs in her mind. he wants to run.   
Don't we all, she sends back.
  * Kent wakes up the next morning squished between Scraps and Tater. it's strange–Kent's gotten used to waking up cold and lonely. he almost doesn't know what to do without that feeling to jolt him awake. but he's warm and safe and surrounded by others like him, and eventually it lulls him into a doze.
  * he wakes up again facing Alexei. "Hey," he whispers.
  * "Morning," Alexei says, voice still thick with sleep. "How you–"
  * Kent kisses him. it's not a conscious decision. but Alexei is here and he's mostly responsible for what's the best full moon of Kent's life, and he's big and warm, and he's been skyping Kent most nights, and Kent loves him. he knows about Alexei's dad and what his favourite books are and what kind of music Alexei likes to listen to. it feels right to kiss Tater, feels like the last part of home slotting into place. Alexei's mouth is hot and gentle and he raises a hand to cup Kent's face and kisses him back, and Kent thinks dizzily that he'd give anything to have this for the rest of his life




	5. Chapter 5

In an au where Jack and Kent start talking again after epikegster: Kent finds out about jack's crush (because Jack freaks out to him about it), and in a fit of destructive self-loathing/misguided self-sacrifice he breaks up with Bitty. for like two weeks bitty is absolutely miserable. Jack notices and wants tumblr know what's going on. Bitty is miserable enough that his filters are off and he mumbles, my bf broke up with me. Jack doesn't know who Bitty's bf is and feels awful for feeling happy that bitty is single again. he freaks out over the phone to Kent and Kent's is being ripped apart inside but he j u s t manages to get it together long enough to encourage Jack to confess (my timelines are off but shhh) and Jack does. Bitty is really fucking confused? this is out of left field? but he's cut up after Kent and uses Jack as a rebound   
Jack knows but he's gone enough to be okay with (this is so much suffering I love it) and Kent gets to hear all about how Bitty's last bf must've been such a dick, he broke up with bitty, who even does that amirite? and meanwhile Jack is slowly falling back in love with Kent even though he knows it's a terrible idea–but god he hears Kent baby talk to Kit and talk about fondly about the aces ("they're my boys, Jack") and it feels like drowning all over again. drowning in Kent, who's sad about something but won't tell Jack what, and Bitty, still pining after his boyfriend (who Jack kinda wants to punch)(edited)   
things come to a head after one of Jack's games–it's around [some holiday] so bitty is there, and it's Vs the aces, and Jack and Kent make plans to get dinner after the game. Jack is so excited about Bitty and Kent meeting–he just knows they're going to get along like a house on fire. Kent seems strained and off (the aces won, but it was comfortably close) and Jack is confused? and when he tells bitty about getting dinner with Kent bitty flinches, but their relationship is still tentative and new, so fragile Jack will do almost anything to preserve it.   
nothing can prepare Jack for the look on Kent's face when he sees bitty again, broken and terrified and so so vulnerable–or the look on Bitty's, angry and wanting. "Do you two know each other?" Jack blurts into the heavy silence, and Kent drags his eyes away from bitty to say "That's one way of putting it", but Kent has never been good at distance, and his voice cracks.   
"I think someone should explain", Jack says. "Before dinner, so we can eat in peace."    
"We were dating", bitty says as they sit down. "But then he broke up with me."   
Jack pauses. "Why would you do that?", he asks Kent. Bitty snorts.   
"He can do what he wants–", he starts sharply, but Jack shakes his head, picking up a fork to point at Kent.   
"I know that look," Jack says. "That's your hopelessly in love and doing a bad job of hiding it look."   
Kent looks wounded and cornered. and this, it turns out, is one thing too many. Bitty has always hated seeing Kent sad, there's something about it that makes bitty feel violently angry, and Jack feels horrified, because it's clicked, suddenly, everything over the past six months that didn't make sense but does now, the last vital piece falling into place. "oh my god," Jack says. "Jesus fucking fuck, Kenny," lunging across the table pull Kent into a hug. Kent buries his head in jack's shoulder, whispers "Zimms," and when the waiter arrives it's a big shock to all of them, wrapped as they are in a bubble of emotion and each other   
"Maybe you should explain now," Bitty says gently once they've ordered. he's spent 6 months bitter and miserable, but he can't be mean to Kenny now, not when it's so painfully obvious that Kent can't take it.    
Kent lays out his side of the story in bits and pieces, stumbling over hiding his crush on Jack, stuttering over the way the past six months have set him back years, how he's back to late nights and nightmares. he's finished by the time the food arrives, and when he looks back up from the edge of the table that he's been studying so as to avoid their eyes, he almost falls apart again. Bitty is looking at him with overwhelming tenderness, and Jack is looking at him like he's beautiful and good, and Kent doesn't know how to take it   
"We're going to fix this," Bitty says finally, firmly. "We're going to fix this for all of us".   
Kent shakes his head. "You don't have to do that. You guys are happy. there's no need to break something that works."   
"Just because it works doesn't mean it can't be better," Bitty says.    
"We want you," Jack says. Bitty glances at him, briefly surprised, but he nods.    
"Let's do this after we eat, okay?" Bitty says.    
they eat in near-silence, just the clink of cutlery and the soft classical music of the restaurant. Bitty knocks his ankles into Kent's, at one point, and it makes Kent smile. it drops off quickly, and leaves Kent embarrassed, but Jack and Bitty share a stunned look.    
Jack pays. Kent tries to protest, but Bitty grabs Kent's hand and drags him outside.    
the night air is cool. bitty gives Kent a couple of minutes and stares at the cars rushing past. they're still holding hands, and Kent's fingers are trembling slightly.    
"You didn't have to do that," bitty says quietly. he shakes his head when Kent opens his mouth. "No, listen. I don't need you making my decisions for me. you can't decide what's good for me and what isn't. if we're going to do this–and I want to–then you can't do this again, honey." he turns to Kent, stepping closer. "Especially since you didn't manage to do much except hurt yourself. and me, but also yourself. that isn't okay, sweetie. I won't be made complicit in your self harm. I love you, Kent. I don't ever want to do that to you."   
"I'm sorry," Kent says. he hangs his head. "I just. long distance is hard. I thought I was doing the right thing. I wanted you to be happy. I thought–" Kent doesn't finish that for some time. finally he shuffles closer, wrapping his arms around bitty. "I'm glad I was wrong about this," he says. bitty squeezes him, hard. "Me too, babe," he says. they stay like that for a couple of minutes until Jack comes back out.(edited)   
Jack smiles at Kent, soft and private. he's got the keys out already, spinning them around a finger. "Ready to go?" he says. Bitty and Kent pull apart reluctantly. it's been literal months, and months before that where they couldn't touch each other. it hurts to see.    
bitty sits in the back with Kent. Jack can hear them talking quietly, and he doesn't have to strain to make out the words but he doesn't try–lets them have their moment.    
they take the lift up to jack's condo. Jack wants to chirp Kent for how awkward he is, but Kent still looks like everything is too raw and close, so instead Jack nudges him, knocking their shoulders together. Kent smile is small, but it's something. they're still jostling each other as Jack slides the keys in.   
"Boys," bitty says, fond and warning. it makes Jack's breath catch–bitty sounds like Kent talking about the aces, but warmer and sweeter. Kent jerks like the reality of this all still hasn't set in for him.    
Jack loops his arms around Kent, pulls him in lovingly–he can tell that Kent feels fragile, needs things he can't ask for. but jack's here, and he can give them to Kent, and it's kind of an amazing feeling(edited)   
Kent's flight isn't until the day after. everything feels soft, drenched in syrup. like nothing can break this. they undress for bed on top of and around each other–bitty makes Jack his nightly herbal tea while Kent and Jack brush and change, and Jack changes the sheets while bitty brushes and Kent calls Jeff to let him know that he's taking the next day off.    
jack's bed is definitely big enough for three–even if the two of the three are professional hockey players (not that it matters–Kent is tiny for a hockey player). by unspoken agreement bitty and Jack leave the middle for Kent. he's smiling when he crawls into bed after his conversation with Jeff, and this time the smile stays. jack's hands are large and warm, and Bitty's hands are smaller but no less warm and they wander, in ways that make Kent blush and Jack grin knowingly into Kent's back. he has experience with Bitty's hands and the wonderful, awful things they're capable of.   
but they're sleepy and tired, and end up falling asleep curled around each other like tangled string: Bitty's hands fisted into Kent's (Jack's) t-shirt, one leg thrown over Kent's hip, Kent trying to scrunch in small but sandwiched between people determined not to let him, Jack trying desperately to make sure he's got both of them within arms' reach, even if it means lying half on top of Kenny. Tomorrow they'll sort out the logistics of a long distance polyamorous relationship. they'll talk about holidays and the off season and their parents. but no matter what, they make it work.


	6. Chapter 6

**base**

  * Kent wins the Stanley Cup in y3. and then he's playing for the Olympics team, and he breaks his leg. it's bad. he's never going to skate again, and he's heartbroken about it. but somewhere, he's also relieved, because being an omega in the NHL is never easy; it's about four times as difficult to be taken seriously and he's been bullied a lot and he has to play harder than anyone on the ice to be considered worth it, worth the trouble for management that omegas inherently are.   
he goes to Samwell. it's just–Jack is no longer there, and while Kent has never seen himself as clever or college worthy, he has the time and the money, and he goes.  
he picks his classes mostly at random, based on what he used to like in high school. literature, physics, math, biology, gender and dynamic studies
  * here's what he doesn't expect: bitty is the TA for his biology class. he doesn't expect bitty, at all. Bitty is small and fast and sharp as fuck. it reminds him of himself, back in the Q, when everything felt like it was going to last forever. except Bitty is 22 and he has his whole life ahead of him, and Kent has just lost everything for the second time in his life.
  * he doesn't expect to become friends with Bitty either; he's only met him a couple times, but he has the distinct impression that Bitty loathes his guts. in any case, he knows Jack and Bitty are dating (Kent's smarter than he gives himself credit for), and no way he is coming in the middle of that.  
"You're not coming in the middle of anything," bitty says confidently. "Jack and I are on a break." they're walking back from class, and Kent nearly breaks his leg again. bitty catches him and rights him easily, without looking. it makes Kent's breath hitch.  
"How–why–" Kent pauses, breathing deeply. "I thought you and him were solid."  
"I needed some time to do some figuring out," Bitty says unapologetically. "So did he, maybe."  
Kent closes his eyes for a second. "Where are we going right now?"  
"The Haus. You've been there, right?"  
the Haus is pretty different. that awful couch is gone, and there are paintings on the wall ("Mulder and Lardo made those.") and there are a couple of d-men lounging around the kitchen table, arguing with each other.



**getting together**

  * Kent is a people-pleaser. he keeps it on the DL, since it's such a stereotypically omega thing. and because being an omega in the NHL is a lot of pain, even without stereotypes, a lot of fucking up your body with suppressants (which are okay for a couple years, but Kent's been taking them since he was 15, and his dynamic biology is now a mess). but bitty? bitty is easy to please. it's so so easy to pick up his favourite coffee before biology and hand it to him just before class, so easy to call his mom for recipes and cook them in the Haus kitchen. bitty gives Kent this smile, every time, like–like Kent's done something right.
  * and Kent loves it. he loves being able to make someone (Bitty) happy without worrying about the consequences. he's spent years being sharp and tough, walls up and overgrown with thorns. he misses being soft, being vulnerable, and there's some part of him that trusts bitty almost instinctively. bitty doesn't hurt Kent (not like Jack did).
  * and bitty likes that Kent does stuff just for him. some days it feels like bitty is stuck taking care of everyone, and then Kent gets him his favourite coffee and a sandwich from Annie's, or he comes back to a Haus kitchen that smells of quesadillas, and he feels so much better. like Kent sees bitty, sees him even when he's doing his best to hide what he's feeling, and it's freeing to think that bitty can hide but he can't hide from Kent, Kent will see through him and care. bitty loves it
  * the suppressants fucked Kent's body up beyond repair. he doesn't resent it, not exactly, but. he still can't help hating his body. Kent can't have kids, ever. his heats will eventually align into a cycle, now that he isn't on suppressants, but he can't have kids and heats are always going to be painful for him, even with help. his body has spent years without the good hormones that heat makes (the logic being that heat sex induces the production of those hormones; I'm not sure how much sense this makes but go with it) and it's starving.   
when his body does hit heat, it's bad. it hurts so much, and Kent doesn't have anyone to help him. he just manages to call bitty, who enlists Mulder into driving them all to a hospital nearby. Kent spends half a day under anaesthesia and another two days under observation. he leaves with strict instructions to find someone he trusts before the next time, or check himself into the hospital every time he feels it coming on.
  * who does he go to but,,, bitty.   
EB: you know I'm an omega right?  
KP: even better  
EB: ...if you're sure?  
KP: you don't have to. I can find someone else (yeah, right, Kent. like who, exactly?)  
EB: I don't mind helping you, but–  
KP: I trust you  
EB:   
EB: yes, ofc I'll help you
  * EB, inside: he trusts me he trusts me he trusts me he trusts me–
  * anyway I won't go into too many details but that's how Kent and Bitty end up dating. they go out together, they have sex, they notice what the other needs and try to give it to them,,,, that's dating brah  
EB [on the phone with Shitty]: no it's not! we're just friends  
BK: ....friends who have heat sex, regular sex, know each others' favourite foods, hang out almost every day, call each other literally every day, tweet at each other, leave each other schmoopy comments on Instagram, know each others schedules–  
EB: alright you've made your point



**meta/notes**

  * Jack is an omega, and Kent is very definitely not into alphas. one part of this is because he was on the NHL, which is full to the brim with entitled alphas. he doesn't feel safe around them, and he doesn't trust them. but it's also just a him thing, like being trans or pansexual. he likes omegas. he's always been attracted to omegas. he used to think Jack was an exception, because Jack was a beta
  * later on it turns out that Jack was one of those rare omegas that don't present until they're around their true mates. jack's mate is tater. it explains a lot, like why he'd never been able to love bitty or Kent the way they loved him–he just doesn't swing that way
  * Bitty likes both alphas and omegas but he tends towards omegas because most alphas won't let bitty have control/top. Kent is a goddamn dream: he loves letting bitty do whatever he wants
  * neither of them can have kids but they adopt Kent's cousins accidental twins, and Bitty's aunt's 3y/o son
  * tater is ridiculously protective of all three of them. especially bitty, Kent and Jack  
the polyam version of this has Kent, Jack and Bitty building a nest while Alexei is away. Alexei is SO SHOOK. he luvs his boys
  * bitty finds his calling in summer of y3 and decides he wants to become a midwife
  * also Kent gets two lil kittens in addition to kit, because kit seemed lonely and she was a bit shaken by the move from Vegas
  * Kent lives in the dorms for the first year because he decides he wants the Full College Experience but next year he's like fuuuuck this shit I'm getting an apartment. which bitty also moves into, because he's continuing at samwell to become a midwife
  * the cats live in the Haus for one year and they're fuckin sick of it. they hate it. they keep trying to set it on fire. kit now has minions to do her bidding



**assimilation**

  * so Kent is queer. he's a raging, unerasable queer. and he's queer on every axis he possibly can be–he's trans and genderqueer/non-binary, he's pansexual, and he's attracted solely to other omegas. he can't ever assimilate. it's just. not on the cards for him.  
because management did handle him being trans well: for some given value of it. yeah, they paid for his T, and his top surgery that he didn't want and having his tubes tied, and they even offered him bottom surgery but by that time Kent felt physically sick in his own body and his dysphoria was just as bad, if not worse, than before. he doesn't prefer this body–he thought he wanted to be a guy, but what he wanted was he/him pronouns, hockey, and respect.
  * but he doesn't have the words to articulate this or a space where it's acceptable for him to go through figuring this out. and so he suffers in his body, which feels as alien now as it ever did, and he has nightmares about how his ability to have biological children (which he wanted) was fucking ripped out of his hands. and he's still. fucking. queer. he's attracted to guys and girls and non binary people, and everyone he's attracted to is a gd omega, and he's never. getting. out of this. 
  * it takes him six years to come to terms with this and then he breaks his leg.
  * but by that time he's so angry. he's so tired of being erased and he just wants to live ffs, except that that's definitely too much to ask for. he wants agency and he wants so many things he doesn't have words for (later on, he finds that what he wants is to be soft, to be wanted, to be somewhere which has space for him to be himself) 
  * he's so angry, especially, at Jack. who's queer but not as much as Kent is. which feels like a horrible thing to think–but Jack is bisexual. other than that he's a late presenting cis male omega. on the whole, it's pretty easy for Jack to blend into the majority. Kent has never had that option–it was a huge risk for him to come out as trans to management; if they'd known he was genderqueer and homodynamic, they'd have fired him, fantastic player or no. Jack has never been 18 and scared out of his fucking mind at having to come out as trans to the people that control his life, 19 and losing his bodily autonomy, 20 and hating his body so much it makes him sick to even breathe, 21, 22, 23, falling apart slowly because he's the person he is and he cannot change that, surgery or no, and he hates himself. and Kent hates how Jack got away, and got away easy. while Kent got hurt over and over and over.



**nsfw**

  * bitty likes to top. except that most of the alphas he has sex with (between breaking up with Jack and beginning to date Kent; about 7 months) don't like it? when Bitty tried to take control? and at first it's a bit baffling because Jack has always let bitty do what he wants. it takes him a couple weeks to figure out that he's small and omega and he's supposed to do what alphas want him to do. which, fuck that. the first omega he sleeps with is a guy from his American history class, and Bitty's hooked. having sex with omegas is a huge improvement over every alpha ever, and bitty isn't looking back. just because he can appreciate alpha ass doesn't mean he wants to sleep with them.  
Kent is eager and guileless for it in a way that sparks something in Bitty's stomach. he doesn't hide how badly he wants to please Eric, and it feels good. it feels good to fuck Kent, who gives in easy and lets bitty take and take and take until Kent is soft and wrung out and trembling.
  * it surprises Bitty every time, how easy Kent is. how he'll get on his knees for bitty every time, no matter how often bitty asks for it (and Eric, drunk on power, went through a phase where he pushed Kent down every time they were alone together, and didn't wait long enough to get him off after, just left with a kiss to Kent's forehead and a murmured, Get yourself off for me, will you honey? however you like. he waited to see if Kent got angry or resentful or even a little bit reluctant, but Kent seemed just as eager the eleventh time as he did the first.) eventually bitty stopped, half guilty and half missing the sounds Kent made when Eric fucked him.
  * the first time Eric gets Kent through a heat, he doesn't expect how intimate it is. he's never done this before–all his casual hookups had other people they went to for stuff like that. but Kent is vulnerable and desperate and he can't hide anything–it's obvious how much he wants to please bitty, how badly he craves approval and tenderness. Eric swings between feeling hopelessly protective and monstrous–he can't shake the thought that Kent-during-sex and Kent-anytime-else are two different people; Kent is arrogant and flippant and almost angry, Kenny is easy and clumsy and he lets Bitty do whatever he wants to him–bitty can't stop thinking about how this is some weird mashup of the two, this is Kent trying to be flippant and arrogant and failing. Bitty feels like he's seeing things Kent never wanted to show him.   
it's still insanely hot. pushing down a Kent who (for the first time in Eric's experience) doesn't want to be pushed down feels amazing. like bitty actually has to work to get Kent where he wants. Kent snarls and struggles, but when he submits it feels sweeter than ever.  
later, Eric kisses Kent's shoulders, dotted with freckles and hickeys, asks him if he's okay.   
"Yeah," Kent whispers. "Just, just tired. I guess."  
"Did I hurt you?" Eric asks anxiously.  
"No." Kent turns his face into Bitty's chest. "Why would you think–"  
he falls asleep. Eric cleans them both up (Kent doesn't even stir) and then falls asleep next to him.



 


	7. Chapter 7

  * so, I’ve got a running headcanon that Kent’s mom is alcoholic and she has ptsd.
  * rape & pregnancy TW // she was raped in college and that’s how she got pregnant with Kent. she kept him out of choice, but she loves him no matter what
  * but that doesn’t change the fact that she has ptsd and for many years while she was working 3 jobs to keep them alive and Kent on the ice, and she had to get through somehow. so she drank at home
  * and she wasn’t ever really there for Kent. she couldn’t be, between drinking and working. does Kent resent her? I don’t think so. I don’t think he knew it was even an option until he met the Zimmermanns and Jack
  * and saw the way they behaved with each other. but he loves his mom and he’d do anything for her. it’s why he sticks with hockey even when it hurts–his mom worked hard to get him where he is, and he can’t let her down now
  * but she crashes around the time Kent is 16/17. she’s no longer got Kent around to survive for, and it really messes her up. and Kent watches Jack and his mom crash and burn, up close and from afar, and it fucks him up
  * like, bad. he can’t stop thinking that it was him, that he’s the reason they’re the way they are. that he’s the only thing they have in common and they’re both–the way they are, and it must be him. it must be Kent
  * jack’s OD breaks Kent, pushes him over the edge of a cliff he was already clinging to with his fingertips. he shuts down completely and only surfaces to a) send his mom to rehab with his first NHL paycheck b) and play hockey
  * he withdraws completely. cuts himself off from human contact at the exact time he needs it the most. he spends his rookie year with the Aces Captain, Patty, his wife and their two kids, barely holding on to his humanity
  * it’s a good thing the team forces Kent out regularly, because otherwise he’d turn into an Actual Hockey Robot. it’s not that he isn’t friendly with them–he plays beautiful hockey and laughs and chirps with the rest of them, but there’s something off about it. he’s skittish and awkward, and he gets this look in his eyes sometimes, like he survived something awful but not really.
  * like he isn’t all there. they worry about him. he’s too small and too good at hockey and he needs someone to watch out for him
  * the first year, it’s the whole team. all how-many-ever of them, looking out for Kent on and off the ice. the second year, Jeff comes to them
  * Jeff is…good with Kent.
  * Jeff’s been playing on the NHL for a couple years, got drafted third or fourth to the Seattle Schooners. he’s a good teammate, dryly funny, chirps that take a second to sink in. he plays good hockey, not as good as Kent, but good.
  * but he seems to know, instinctively, what Kent needs at any given moment
  * Jeff drags Kent into being social and actually, y'know, forming meaningful connections with other people by giving Kent puppy eyes until Kent agrees to hang out with Jeff and teammate of the week
  * and Kent, horribly unused to being someone people want to spend time with and nearly incapacitated by loneliness after a year of next to no human connection, says yes every time
  * and Kent is a person? under that weird obsessive hockey robot exterior? he’s fun to hang out with. he’s even funny. he’s a bit a total dork and likes helping people and he always knows a good place to eat
  * so people on Kent’s team start to seek his company even without Swoops around and Kent goes ? but he doesn’t like to let people down or say no
  * Kent is still like, messed up inside. he doesn’t sleep well and there are a lot of days when he won’t get out of bed of he doesn’t have to. but he’s still trying
  * except… he’s not trying to be better at Humaning for himself. he’s doing it for Jeff and the people who depend upon him to show up and entertain their kids for two hours so they can go on a date
  * the only thing that’s changed is the manifestation of Kent’s chronic self-sacrificing and the people who receive it.
  * and Kent is honestly trying really hard and overcompensating for a year of not being a good Human Person so he swamps himself in helping people and overworks himself
  * and it’s Jeff that picks up the pieces of Kent’s dumbassery. it’s Jeff that calls people to let them know that Kent has the flu, no they haven’t been to the doctor yet, yes he’s mostly okay he’s puking right now, so no he can’t come and take care of your kids Patty find a fucking babysitter you’re a millionaire jfc
  * (Patty is kind of a dick)
  * Kent: [in between puking] but I promised
  * Jeff: shut the fuck up
  * Kent’s bedridden for almost a week. he misses two games, both of which the Aces lose
  * it’s during this week that Jeff realises just how fucked up Kent is, because in the middle of puking his guts out and shivering under six blankets he still finds time to blame himself for everything that goes wrong in that week. e v e r y s i n g l e t h i n g. it’s not really Kent’s fault, being sick pulls down all walls that keep him from airing the constant internal monologue of self blame and loathing, but Jeff calls his cousin Rashmi and has a slight breakdown
  * well, I say slight. he nearly cries
  * Jeff needs to talk about how much Kent is hurting and omg I never knew im a terrible friend eeeee
  * she tells him to a) calm the fuck down b) don’t take this so personally, you can’t help him if you think you’re the one to blame, he’s doing that already c) here’s a bunch of helpful links on how to deal when you think your friend might be mentally ill
  * Jeff tries to be subtle about bringing up the ‘you might be mentally ill thing’. Kent, however, is not dumb. he catches on to this really fast, and panics hard. his only experience with mentally ill folks is his mom and Jack, and they are not a good place to start–both addicts who’ve been unintentionally emotionally abusive to Kent. Kent draws the best conclusion he can with this data pool. the conclusion is I am a horrible person who will soon be drug addict and hurt the people around me, whoops time to Shut Down
  * Kent [shutting down] I am a horrible person that deserves nothing good, ever. Jeff: nO Kent: I can’t hear you over the sound of my self loathing Jeff: N O
  * and Jeff does not know how to deal with a Kent who’s gone straight back to rookie year levels of skittish I-am-a-virus-don’t-touch-me. the team, on the other hand, knows perfectly well how.
  * or, at least, they know how they dealt with it. but they’re hockey players, with the combined emotional intelligence of a nail clipper, and when they tell Jeff about it he’s horrified. so he figures out his own methods–he sticks as close to Kent as possible while not overwhelming him, and he does his best to be Supportive
  * it is difficult to be supportive when the person you are Supporting does not want to be supported. so he does his research, and hits upon the perfect solution
  * he goes to the local pet shelter and asks for the most unlikely to be adopted kitten, because he knows that Kent has a soft spot for hopeless things
  * they give him a three month old Calico, blind and almost certainly headed to a shelter without a no kill rule
  * Jeff: ……I’ll take it
  * Kent is baffled and enchanted. Jeff really thought it’d be harder to sell this to Kenny, but Kent’s holding squirmy, curious little kit, already babytalking to her, asking her if she knows what a pretty princess she is, yes you are, aren’t you and Jeff has a second where he thinks Oh, shit
  * bc this more humanity and interest than Kent has shown in almost a month, and then Kent is turning to Jeff to ask him questions about raising cats that Jeff didn’t even know were a concern, but clearly this is making Kent happy, so Jeff gives him a book he’d picked up at the recommendation of the volunteer at the shelter, and drives Kent helplessly to the pet store and watches as Kent buys cat shit off Amazon
  * Kent doesn’t realise she’s blind, at first. kit (Jeff named her) has large golden eyes that are permanently dilated. Kent only figures out she’s blind when he’s sitting on the floor watching her toddle around, and she keeps walking into his outstretched legs. Kent calls Jeff in a panic, asking him if he knows what’s with kit’s eyes, and Jeff thinks I knew I was forgetting something
  * and then he explains the situation to Kent, and Kent reacts exactly the way Jeff expected him to–with a sudden fierce dedication to kit, even more so than ten minutes ago when he would have died for her
  * Kent cat-proofs his house–he pours a lot of time and money into getting everything exactly right so Kit needn’t suffer more than necessary. he lavishes Kit with all the love he’s capable of–and he’s always capable of a lot more love than he thinks–and makes sure that everyone coming to his house knows that one move that frightens Kit is more than enough to get them banned
  * so Kent pours himself heart and soul into loving kit. he spends every second he isn’t on the ice taking care of his beloved baby princess
  * and it’s incredibly healing. he knows he has to get up in the morning and come back after runs (not walk into traffic) and that he has to get done on the ice so he can come back to her
  * and it’s incredibly healing. he knows he has to get up in the morning and come back after runs (not walk into traffic) and that he has to get done on the ice so he can come back to her
  * there’s a period of like, six months, where the only reason Kent does anything at all is because kit needs him to. and he won’t let himself think about how Jeff could also maybe take care of her. he won’t.
  * his mom’s rehab clinic is expensive but ridiculously intensive and extensive. it’s almost 14 months of rehab and therapy and relearning hire to be a person without addiction, as well as working through whatever led you to seek addiction in the first place
  * Diana Parson comes out of it changed. she feels more like a person than ever before in her life. she feels whole, healed still, but so much better
  * so she goes back home, and Kent is in Vegas depressed as fuck, and his mom is in New York living for herself, and doing things she loves, and discovering herself outside of therapy
  * she comes back home at a time when it’s incredibly difficult for Kent to do even basic things like have a conversation. so all through the season, he doesn’t visit her and he can’t even summon up the guilt.
  * and her therapist tells her it’s okay, that he needs time too. and she loves him and she gives him the time she needs, but she also decides that she’s stable enough to foster a child
  * which goes well! Lydia is 7 and slightly untrusting but Diana has patience and love and she’s been reading and she’s financially stable and she has time (ask things she didn’t have with Kent). she has time to ask Lydia how her day went. time to play and talk and do bonding activities with just the two of them
  * and soon enough she and Lydia love each other so much! and they have rough times but they get through it.
  * the season ends. and the aces lose. and Kent is probably even worse than before. and someone suggests that since the aces will no longer be in town to make sure that Kent buys groceries/stays a person, hey you should go visit your mom!
  * so Kent, depressed and hating himself, gets to watch his mom get her big second chance
  * and he tries do hard not to be bitter but it’s killing him. he keeps wondering what his life would be like if he were Lydia. if he had a financially stable supportive mom. and he can’t blame his mom so he blames himself
  * he blames himself for needing more than she could give him. because she did her best and she raised a pro NHL player and he doesn’t have any right to expect more
  * and one night it gets so bad that drives himself to Jeff’s place
  * this would be okay but Jeff actually lives in Canada
  * he’s just. in this place where Jeff is the only person that Kent  _knows_  won’t hurt him
  * and he’s so, so tired
  * and Jeff, chilling with his family, suddenly has an armful of distraught sleep-deprived Captain
  * and he’s just like ……sorry I gotta take this
  * Kent knows where Jeff lives bc he’s been there at least once before
  * and Kent just. breaks down. he cries for  _hours_. and Jeff can’t do anything except drag Kent up to his room and cuddle him while he cries and pet his hair. Kent cries himself to sleep, but he wakes up with Jeff wrapped around him and there’s like, 14 seconds where he just feels safe and good because Jeff’s there and hugging him in bed so something somewhere must have gone right
  * anyway Kent wakes up and gets dressed with Jeff hovering gently over him, knocking into him once in a while to make sure he’s okay
  * (like when cats wind around your feet because they’re excited to see you. except they might trip you up. the issue w Jeff is that he is Big)
  * he finds his phone in some weird corner of his car and plugs it in. and finds out that he has 200+ missed calls from his mom
  * because his mom doesn’t have the numbers of any teammates she can call and she’s been so worried and he feels Horrible for Being This Way
  * so he calls her. and she picks up on the second ring and she’s been having panic attacks and flashbacks for 4 days and she doesn’t remember parts of her therapy
  * so she yells at him. and Kent is still way too fragile to handle this but he also has to do this? and he just. panics
  * mother-son bonding via hyperventilating to each other on a phone line
  * but Jeff gets so mad on Kent’s behalf, and pulls the phone out of Kent’s hand and cuts the call.
  * but then he feels guilty so he sends her a quick text message to let her know that Kent is safe and he’ll call when he feels better
  * and the next few days are just Jeff hugging Kent and Kent wearing Jeff’s clothes everywhere because he didn’t bring his own
  * and when they kiss it’s just so natural? Kent stops hiding how much he wants Jeff. it’s too much work. and Jeff is close to Kent almost all the time. and they’re so stupidly in love that Jeff’s older brother walks into them making out against the kitchen counter and moon walks back out
  * they make out for so long that every member of Jeff’s family sees them and walks back out.




End file.
